Another Japanese company is bringing hundreds more jobs to North Carolina as part of a $1.2 billion expansion. 

Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Thursday that Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a biopharmaceutical company, will add over 600 new jobs by expanding a manufacturing plant in Holly Springs.

“The goal of putting money in the pockets of North Carolina families requires foreign direct investment in our state,” Cooper said during a speech at the North Carolina Museum of History. 

The company is investing $1.2 billion in its Holly Springs manufacturing plant, creating 680 new positions with an average salary of $109,000. North Carolina’s Economic Improvement Council approved $18 million in incentives for the company. 

Lars Petersen, the president of Fujifilm, said the company’s investment is expected to grow the state’s economy by $4.7 billion over the next 12 years. 

The announcement comes just before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives in the state Thursday afternoon. Kishida is meeting with state executives and officials to discuss the economic partnership between the nation and the state. 

Japan is North Carolina’s largest source of foreign direct investment, according to the governor’s office.  

Fujifilm, which contracts with other pharmaceutical companies to make products, has operated in Morrisville since 1996. 

North Carolina approved a nearly $20 million grant in 2021 to support a $2 billion expansion in Holly Springs that created 725 new jobs. The jobs announced today are on top of those already created, bringing the total jobs to over 1,400 and Fujifilm’s investment in the state to $3.2 billion.

Fujifilm is just one of many Japanese companies in North Carolina. More than 225 Japanese-owned companies operate in North Carolina from about 500 locations, according to data from the N.C. Department of Commerce.

The investments run from 7-Eleven stores and Speedway gas stations across the state to Toyota’s new electric vehicle battery plant under construction in Randolph County.

The department says that current estimates are that over 30,000 North Carolinians work at a Japanese company. Over the last decade, there has been $17.5 billion in Japanese capital investment in the state, and more than 9,000 jobs have been announced, according to the Department of Commerce.

Some of the largest Japanese companies in the state include the Honda Aircraft Company and Toyota.

Last October, Toyota announced plans to invest an additional $8 billion in its electric battery manufacturing plant in Randolph County, adding 3,000 new jobs. Toyota’s total investment in the site is $13.9 billion and more than 5,000 jobs.

Honda Aircraft’s global headquarters is in Greensboro. The company employs around 900 people in Greensboro, including at its HondaJet factory at the headquarters.

The governor announced HondaJet would be adding nearly 300 new jobs last July. The expansion was partially funded by a grant from the state that could send up to $3.4 million to HondaJet over the next 12 years.

Visits to Toyota’s battery plant and HondaJet are both on the itinerary for Kishida’s visit to North Carolina.

But North Carolina is also home to businesses that you might have visited recently. Speedway, Bridgestone and 7-Eleven are all owned by Japanese parent companies and have franchises in North Carolina.

There are over 100 Japanese-owned Speedways and over 50 Bridgestones in North Carolina, according to data from the N.C. Department of Commerce. There is at least one business with Japanese ties in 69 of North Carolina’s 100 counties.